Star trio commit to Ulster

NEWS: Ulter announced that three of their senior players extended their contracts with the province, one of them captain James Hume.

Together with Hume, Tom O’Toole and Sean Reffell also decided to stay with Ulster for the coming years.

After captaining his home province to a bonus-point win on Saturday night, the 25-year-old Hume will call himself one of the Ulster men until at least June 2027.

The dynamic centre has already secured 90 caps for Ulster after coming through the province’s player pathway.

As a result of being a reliable name on teamsheets over the past number of seasons, Hume has racked up accolades including Ulster Player of the Year and Rugby Writers’ Player of the Year, and earned a spot in the United Rugby Championship Dream Team.

He also has three Ireland caps to his name so far.

"I’m delighted to extend my future here at Ulster. I love and care about this club, so I’m excited to see what the future holds," Hume said.

The 25-year-old O’Toole, who is currently in camp with Andy Farrell’s Six Nations Ireland squad, has also committed his future to Ulster with a new three-year deal.

The hard-working prop has 98 Ulster caps to his name since making his debut in 2018 against Edinburgh.

O’Toole can also count involvement in Ireland’s latest World Cup campaign amongst his recent achievements.

"We have a great playing group and management. It will be an honour to contribute in part to the club’s future going forward as we enter a new chapter," O’Toole said.

Reffell, with his first start for the club seeing him make a record-breaking 39 tackles against Munster, will be looking to continue making a name for himself after his time at the province so far has been disrupted by injury.